After Saturday’s 38-6 victory over South Carolina, the Florida Gators rose five spots to No. 29 in The Athletic’s latest ranking of all 131 FBS college football teams. They are 10 spots behind rival Florida State and 12 spots behind in-state UCF.
The ranking makes sense from a national perspective. They catapulted into the national spotlight after a primetime upset over Utah in [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s first game as coach. The expectations for the Orange and Blue skyrocketed, and their subsequent loss to Kentucky and a close win against USF brought them back to reality.
Despite losing, the Tennessee game put the team back on track. The offense found its groove and the defense seemed at least competent in stretches of the game. A win over Eastern Washington was a step in the right direction. They followed that up with a close win over Missouri, their first SEC win of the season. They had hoped to continue their winning ways against LSU, but an underwhelming defensive performance ultimately gave way to a 45-35 loss, their fourth straight in the rivalry.
After their bye week, they fell at the hands of Georgia. They showed promise in the second half of that game, and that carried over to their victories over Texas A&M and South Carolina, making them 6-4 on the season and bowl-eligible.
The Gators have matchups against Vanderbilt and Florida State left on their schedule, both of which will be played on the road. First up, the Vanderbilt game. Kickoff is scheduled for noon EST and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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